Glorious, breakfast in bed; could it get any better? Well..... We had meatloaf for dinner last night; not just any meatloaf, we had smokey, cheesey, turkey meatloaf, a favorite. Sliced and fried up, it makes a wonderful breakfast. That is if it is indeed the smokey, cheesey kind and not the dog's meatloaf that was right beside ours in the refrigerator. Yep, I was brought a plate of Luke and Elsa's meatloaf this morning. It was very early and without my glasses on I took a bite. I knew immediately that it was not my favorite cheesey meatloaf. I panicked; what had I put in their meatloaf this time? I like to have a variety of proteins packed into a meal for them so often add sardines, anchovies, liver etc. With a big sigh of relief I realized that their meatloaf was pretty plain this time; I'd been in a big hurry so the additional 'yucky' stuff was added afterwards, at mealtime. Their meatloaf is made in my kitchen, with my utensils in my pans. I have no worry that it is completely edible for humans; my worry is that there have been something not to my liking in it (something gross). Ahhh, dodged a bullet, now all I could do was laugh.

Of course this got me to thinking about what we feed our dogs. How many products are sold for dogs to eat state 'not intended for human consumption' on them? Far too many. Food that is labeled 'not intended for human consumption' is just that, not fit for humans to eat. So why then should we feed it to our dogs? There are many things that dogs can eat that we may not want to. But these foods labeled 'not fit for us' are lacking in nutrition; containing little or no nutritional value. Basically waste as far as we humans are concerned but a cheap ingredient for dog food manufacturers.

I make food and cookies for my dogs all the time. When I offer a dog cookie to family or friends to taste, they often recoil at the idea of it being for dogs. Yes, I made the food specifically with the dogs in mind but with all the products found in my refrigerator or pantry. Other than the occasional addition of gross things (as far as my palate is concerned) like gizzards, liver, sardines or dried fish; it is all ingredients that we can eat. So when I make our turkey meatloaf; I often make a meatloaf for the dogs at the same time. Our meatloaf is filled with seasoning and spices, theirs is not. After tasting their meatloaf this morning, the only thing that I noticed was that it was a bit bland compared to my own.

Not intended for human consumption can also mean that it is not safe for humans to eat due to how the product was handled. Left out of refrigeration too long; and then cooked at such high temperatures that anything bad is killed. But there in lies a huge problem again, it is now filler; adding no nutrition once so ever to the food you are now giving to your dog.

Quality as far as feeding our dogs should mean "nutritional value." It does not mean that we are feeding the most expensive cuts of meat or food prepared by a gourmet chef. Nutrition means food that our dog's bodies can use to thrive on. Like us, eat garbage and your body will feel like garbage.

Not intended for human consumption - then I'm not feeding it to my dogs. Bottom line.